Like it or not, simulation is part of football. And Bayern, Man Utd, Barcelona and Real Madrid players are among the many to have stuck in our memory for diving. In a sport in which players are actually told by referees that they must make any foul as clear as possible, there is never a shortage of theatrics. Here is just a small selection of the best, worst and most utterly ridiculous dives that have been seen on a football pitch.
Louis Van Gaal (Man Utd)
Right in front of the official and everything. Disgraceful.
Alberto Gilardino (AC Milan)
You can almost hear the sound of the sniper being fired.
Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid)
They say centre halves are supposed to be big and strong…
Pepe (Portugal)
Anything Ramos can do…
Neymar (Barcelona)
Against the club who later chose to pay £200million for him.
Dele Alli (Tottenham)
Some people have wanted to see more gamesmanship from English players for years. To others, Alli is “shameful”. You can’t please everyone…
Arjen Robben (Bayern Munich)
Oh, he thought he was going to get left out.
Luis Suarez (Liverpool)
There were, ahem, a few Suarez dives we could pick from. But this was the best.
James Rodriguez (Colombia)
This was in a friendly.
Rivaldo (Brazil)
The classic of the genre